Game Design, Gamer Culture, Headlines
Two of our favorite characters will be reunited once again. Sega and Nintendo have announced that Mario and Sonic will be sharing the screen again. This time the two will be duking it out at the Winter Olympics.
Game Design, Gamer Culture, Super Smash Brothers
Bringing two great things together can be sweet, like chocolate and peanut butter. Sometimes, however, it’s a disaster. Since the 1990s, video game companies have experimented with franchise team-ups with mixed results. Some were great ideas that were poorly executed. Others never should’ve made it to the drawing board. Be careful what you wish for, fanboys, because for every Marvel Vs. Capcom 2, you get one of these…
We all know characters often define the games that they star in. Similarities have been made between films, TV and video games, what with a star on the front of the box selling the merchandise, studios backing the games, as well as people going crazy for that merchandise and ripping out their pockets as they furiously purchase these items. It’s no surprise that the developers love money and, in turn, try to get as much money out of their franchise as possible. And this results in sequels and spin-offs in so rapid a succession that it would make a bolt of lighting seem slow. But is it a good thing?
Business, Game Design, Gamer Culture
Manipulating the fabric of time and space is tricky business, but hoo-dang, is it ever fun! Time travel has been a favorite element of science fiction, and as such, it’s proven to be just as entertaining when applied to video games. Done right, you can not only add depth to a game’s plot, but also the gameplay mechanics. Let’s flip on the flux capacitor and take a look at some highlights from video games past.
This video is just too funny. This guy pretends to have a smooth jazz radio show while playing Sonic. I don’t know what’s worse: the fact that I listened to the whole thing from beginning to end? Or the fact that I’ve listened to this sort of radio broadcast on my local NPR affiliate many times before driving home at four in the morning.
Game series survive based off one continuous, common theme. I mean, “survive” in that they don’t always succeed in evolving the series. The current trend is pulling games from their original genres into new ones. For all we decry about the lack of original ideas, genre-jumpers are not original. In some ways, it may be the developer ran out of ideas. Genre-jumping games are diversions to extend the life of series that might be better off not reproducing.
Looking to hop on the social networking bandwagon, Sega launched this week their new free online gaming site, PlaySega. There, Sega fanatics and the casual crowd alike can log in to play a handful of free games, collect prizes, and communicate with fellow gamers. But is it just another social networking site, or does Sega have more to offer than just a MySpace with Sonic?
Nintendo Wii, Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Remember back on the Genesis, when Sonic games were still good? Super-fast-paced, platformer action, when all you had to worry about was kicking ass and taking rings? Sega remembers, too, and Sonic Unleashed is supposedly about bringing Sonic back to his roots. …Except for the whole Sonic-turns-into-a-werehog part. Right. What’s going on over there, Sega?
